BinZiad
13-12-2002, 22:40
US Chickens refuse to fight Al-Qaeda and Taliban
According to American officials, the American Special Forces
units stationed in Afghanistan are refusing to conduct any
operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida. The Special Forces
have refused on the grounds that the operations suggested by
the intelligence agencies will result in massive American
casualties.
The AOFs (American Occupational Forces) have refused to
act on many detailed intelligence reports that have indicated
locations of the Ameer ul Momenin Mullah Mohammed Umar,
but the AOFs refused to act on those reports, claiming that
either the reports were not credible or that it would cost too
many American lives. The A-Team of Green Berets have
suggested many operations to capture leading Taliban
officials, but the Task Force 180, the operational arm of
Green Berets stationed in Bagram Airbase has refused all
those plans on the grounds of massive American casualties.
Military sources said that on several occasions, Army Green
Beret A-Teams received good intelligence on the whereabouts
of former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, one of the
United States’ most sought after fugitives. In each case,
soldiers said, commanders turned down the missions as too
dangerous or because they believed the intelligence was
shaky.
The military sources said that in recent months, Green Berets,
also called Special Forces, have written detailed plans, or
what are called “concept for operations” (conops), to find and
attack Taliban leaders. In virtually all the cases, the officials
said, the conops were turned down by Task Force 180, the
overall Afghanistan command at Bagram air base north of
Kabul. Col. Roger King, chief spokesman for Task Force 180,
issued a statement yesterday rebutting these accounts from
Special Forces soldiers. The statement said 580 conops had
been conducted by Green Berets during the past three months.
Special Forces sources, however, said the vast majority of
missions involved reconnaissance or searches for weapons
caches — not a specific plan to attack a Taliban leader. “We
had a good plan,” said one Special Forces soldier, who, like
others interviewed for this story, asked not to be identified for
fear of retribution from superiors. “We came in hard in
November, December, January, February and we won,” the
soldier said. “Since then, we’ve been floundering.”
Said another solider with knowledge of operations in
Afghanistan: “If you put in a conop, if it
said ‘raid,’ ‘ambush,’ ‘kill,’ ‘sniper,’ anything like that, the
conop would be disapproved based on the vocabulary used. If
you said my team has intelligence that a Taliban corps
commander was going to be at such a place, set up an
ambush and engage and try to kill or capture him, that would
be out of hand rejected.”
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered all senior
US commanders to “lean forward” or be aggressive in the
war against Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaida fighters and other
terrorists. A senior defense official said the lack of what are
called “direct action” special operations missions comes at a
critical time. The military sources said that based on
intelligence collected by A-Teams and US agencies, there are
likely only 50 to 100 devoted Taliban leaders left in
Afghanistan. Some are trying to form new guerrilla groups by
merging with Pakistani and Arab militants.
Special Forces soldiers on the ground say that if the United
States misses its chance now to kill or capture them, the hard-
core Taliban leaders may be successful in reorganizing their
units and other militants’ and destabilizing the regime of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai. An administration official said
the issue of approving conops has been discussed at high
levels in the Pentagon.
Task Force 180 is led by Lt. Gen. Dan McNeill, an Army corps
commander whose units include the 82nd Airborne Division.
Commandos say there is an attitude at the Task Force that
special operations forces have been in Afghanistan too long.
Historically, conventional warfare commanders have harbored
a distrust of special operations units, believing some of their
missions’ risks outweigh the benefits. “The fear of getting
prosecuted for anything there is real. There’s a paranoia,”
said one soldier. “There are so many lawyers.” Said a Special
Forces soldier “There is nothing worth dying for in
Afghanistan. None of us want to take an unnecessary risk, but
we did want to catch terrorists.” Gen. McNeill was in
Washington last week briefing Mr. Rumsfeld and President
Bush on the pace of operations in Afghanistan.
According to American officials, the American Special Forces
units stationed in Afghanistan are refusing to conduct any
operations against Taliban and Al-Qaida. The Special Forces
have refused on the grounds that the operations suggested by
the intelligence agencies will result in massive American
casualties.
The AOFs (American Occupational Forces) have refused to
act on many detailed intelligence reports that have indicated
locations of the Ameer ul Momenin Mullah Mohammed Umar,
but the AOFs refused to act on those reports, claiming that
either the reports were not credible or that it would cost too
many American lives. The A-Team of Green Berets have
suggested many operations to capture leading Taliban
officials, but the Task Force 180, the operational arm of
Green Berets stationed in Bagram Airbase has refused all
those plans on the grounds of massive American casualties.
Military sources said that on several occasions, Army Green
Beret A-Teams received good intelligence on the whereabouts
of former Taliban leader Mullah Mohammed Omar, one of the
United States’ most sought after fugitives. In each case,
soldiers said, commanders turned down the missions as too
dangerous or because they believed the intelligence was
shaky.
The military sources said that in recent months, Green Berets,
also called Special Forces, have written detailed plans, or
what are called “concept for operations” (conops), to find and
attack Taliban leaders. In virtually all the cases, the officials
said, the conops were turned down by Task Force 180, the
overall Afghanistan command at Bagram air base north of
Kabul. Col. Roger King, chief spokesman for Task Force 180,
issued a statement yesterday rebutting these accounts from
Special Forces soldiers. The statement said 580 conops had
been conducted by Green Berets during the past three months.
Special Forces sources, however, said the vast majority of
missions involved reconnaissance or searches for weapons
caches — not a specific plan to attack a Taliban leader. “We
had a good plan,” said one Special Forces soldier, who, like
others interviewed for this story, asked not to be identified for
fear of retribution from superiors. “We came in hard in
November, December, January, February and we won,” the
soldier said. “Since then, we’ve been floundering.”
Said another solider with knowledge of operations in
Afghanistan: “If you put in a conop, if it
said ‘raid,’ ‘ambush,’ ‘kill,’ ‘sniper,’ anything like that, the
conop would be disapproved based on the vocabulary used. If
you said my team has intelligence that a Taliban corps
commander was going to be at such a place, set up an
ambush and engage and try to kill or capture him, that would
be out of hand rejected.”
Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld has ordered all senior
US commanders to “lean forward” or be aggressive in the
war against Osama bin Laden’s Al Qaida fighters and other
terrorists. A senior defense official said the lack of what are
called “direct action” special operations missions comes at a
critical time. The military sources said that based on
intelligence collected by A-Teams and US agencies, there are
likely only 50 to 100 devoted Taliban leaders left in
Afghanistan. Some are trying to form new guerrilla groups by
merging with Pakistani and Arab militants.
Special Forces soldiers on the ground say that if the United
States misses its chance now to kill or capture them, the hard-
core Taliban leaders may be successful in reorganizing their
units and other militants’ and destabilizing the regime of
Afghan President Hamid Karzai. An administration official said
the issue of approving conops has been discussed at high
levels in the Pentagon.
Task Force 180 is led by Lt. Gen. Dan McNeill, an Army corps
commander whose units include the 82nd Airborne Division.
Commandos say there is an attitude at the Task Force that
special operations forces have been in Afghanistan too long.
Historically, conventional warfare commanders have harbored
a distrust of special operations units, believing some of their
missions’ risks outweigh the benefits. “The fear of getting
prosecuted for anything there is real. There’s a paranoia,”
said one soldier. “There are so many lawyers.” Said a Special
Forces soldier “There is nothing worth dying for in
Afghanistan. None of us want to take an unnecessary risk, but
we did want to catch terrorists.” Gen. McNeill was in
Washington last week briefing Mr. Rumsfeld and President
Bush on the pace of operations in Afghanistan.